Jessica Ennis-Hill is distraught to be missing the upcoming World Championships but knows injury would have prevented her from succeeding in Russia.
A year on from securing the Olympic heptathlon crown, the 27-year-old had hoped to add another world title to her collection next month. She was named in the original British squad for Moscow, but was forced to pull out yesterday due to Achilles and heel pain.
Ennis-Hill did manage to compete in the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games last weekend but was some way below her best, a performance that helped her to make yesterday's decision.
"We have been focusing on managing the pain so I can train and get myself in shape to win in Moscow, which has meant not focusing on finding a cure for the injury," Ennis-Hill said. "The time has now come to stop chasing fitness and look to cure the problem."
The Sheffield athlete won the World Championship title in Berlin four years ago before taking silver at Daegu 2011 after being pipped by Tatyana Chernova, who will be unable to defend her crown due to a knee injury.
Despite the Russian's absence, Ennis-Hill did not feel she could be competitive in Moscow and, together with her coach Toni Minichiello and medical team, made the decision to pull out.
"It's not been the easiest or simplest of decisions," Minichiello said. "The pain management did improve and Jessica was able to compete in London, but the next few days have not seen enough improvement that would have made completing the two-day, seven events of the heptathlon possible.
"I've also had to consider if competing at the world championships would have caused further damage, making any rehab more difficult.
"There are nine global medals up for grabs over the next three years not including Moscow. So a long-term view has been taken."
Ennis-Hill will now spend the next week to 10 days doing basic rehabilitation exercises. "The aim will be to unload the Achilles for a week or so and during this time gather more opinions about all possible recovery strategies," Minichiello said.
Ennis-Hill was the final athlete British Athletics were waiting on ahead of Moscow after Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford was yesterday added to the squad, having proved his fitness after a hamstring injury.
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